Beijing - pandas and parks

 Two days ago we were set off from London to Shanghai, changed planes ending up in Beijing, and then a short drive to our hotel. 

That took about 16 hours and then we spent the rest of the time relaxing and getting to grips with the apps that were needed to pay for everything, and the map app that would show us how to get around the enormous city.

Today we put it all into practice and caught the metro to the zoo. The metro is enormous with extremely long walkways and beautiful murals.

It cost about 30 pence to get to the zoo and then it was free entry for me and Daz was disappointed to find that he would have to pay £2. Roll on next year when he will get in for free too.

The grounds inside the zoo were great with lots of greenery and statues, although a notice specifically said not to climb on the elephants.

The zoo itself had very old fashioned buildings and small enclosures, so we weren't so keen to visit all of it. A lot of animals were not in view at all but we saw a couple of tigers up close.

The only reason that we went to the zoo at all was to see the pandas and they did have a new enclosure.

They also did a very good line in panda souvenirs and photo opportunities.

After that we took a short walk to Zizhuyuan Park. It was originally the site of a temple built by the royal family over 400 years ago, but now it is a relaxing place where people come to meet and dance.

A Chinese lady was taking a video by the lake and I realised that I was in her picture so tried to get out of the way, but she took my arm and with music playing on her phone, took a video of us both swaying in a 360 degree circle. 

A lotus lake was the star of the show and we wandered around listening to local people playing instruments and singing into microphones.

There was also some brilliant flower beds and a chrysanthemum display.

A great start to our holiday and we meet our tour group tomorrow.

Day out in London

Darren had organised a day out in London so we boarded a train, then caught the underground and then magically appeared above ground at Trafalgar Square.

We admired the new sculpture on the fourth plinth and started heading towards the National Gallery. We were then stopped in our tracks by a display of large American football helmets. 

Darren was so excited and he managed to contort himself enough to sit inside the display. ( I didn't see anyone else doing this.) 

I think that was the highlight of his day, but actually we were only just beginning.

Next we went to see the Renoir exhibition and really enjoyed it. I can't think of anything very intelligent sounding or descriptive to say about the paintings, so I think that it's probably best not to try. 

Afterwards we had a stroll around the nearby Chinatown and eventually on to the Duchess Theatre where we saw the play called 'The play that went wrong'. 

We were on the front row and very close to the stage. Before it started the actors came out and started looking for a dog that they had lost, and who was needed for act two. The guy sitting next to me (not Darren, the other side) jokingly said that he would play the dog's part if they hadn't found the real dog in time. 

The play began and it was very silly and funny with, as advertised, lots of things going wrong. In the interval an actor came over to see my neighbour and asked if he still wanted to be the dog in the show. I don't know if he was joking, but the guy looked panicky and said absolutely not, so when it got to the dog's part in the play there was just an empty lead and collar and the actors woofed instead. 

Nice

Our bus ride from Genoa to Nice along the coast was similar to our crazy journey into Genoa. This time our bus arrived 20 minutes late and set off on the mountainous route at great speed. We were right at the front and could see the speedometer. The driver kept it at 100 kilometres an hour almost all of the time, even while negotiating bends where the speed limit showed 60 and we were right on the edge of huge drop.

It was again a relief after an hour or so to pull into a petrol station for a quick break. Darren looked at the Flixbus app and it now showed that we were now due into Nice bus station 18 minutes early. 

We arrived safely and the sun was out, the promenade was close by and we went out to explore. 

The next day was very wet as the thunderstorms and torrential rain got us in the end. It was still warm though and we didn't want to miss our jog along the beautiful seafront.

Once we had dried off we bought a museum pass and set off again. I wanted to see inside one of the amazing mansions that were built here by the rich tourists who came to stay on the Riviera for the winter.

It was really impressive and I particularly liked the garden room, but all of the explanations were in French only so we just enjoyed the atmosphere.

Then we walked past the Negresco Hotel and could actually understand the notice with prices by the door. The penthouse suite cost 30,000 euros per night.

Another museum, this time the Musée des Beaux -Arts. This had a Belle Epoche exhibition, mainly of Jules Cheret's paintings - again in French only.

I didn't learn much about him, but they were lovely paintings of the rich ladies of the day.

Lastly a strange museum with an incredible staircase, lots of musical instruments and old paintings.

And this morning we had one last jog along the seafront and will be setting off to the airport shortly.

Milan to Genoa

 We caught a bus from Milan and it headed south across pancake flat countryside for about half of the journey. Then within about a mile the landscape changed drastically and turned mountainous as we negotiated our way on a road that twisted and turned whilst climbing, sometimes through tunnels or over long bridges.

It was fine for a while although we were rolling in our seats. However, we had set off 30 minutes late and I think that the driver was trying to catch up for lost time. The final few miles to Genoa were all downhill on a dual carriageway and he got into the outside lane and descended like a grand prix driver. The only time I have seen anything like it before was when we caught a minibus in Thailand that was driven by a maniac.

We overtook every car on the road, shooting past them and taking up both lanes to do handbrake style turns on the very many switchback corners. 

We arrived in Genoa in a state of mild shock and then couldn't find our hotel. Eventually we realised that it must go through the ten foot high unwelcoming looking door in a very high wall. We couldn't get in but then some people arrived with their own key and we got inside to find a cavernous room with a grand staircase and then a lift.

It was a very strange contraption, but it worked well and eventually we found someone to let us in to our hotel, which took up only about a third of the third floor.

Once inside our room was lovely and spacious and had a balcony overlooking the city. We calmed down and made ourselves at home.

The next morning we started exploring Genoa. It is the sixth largest city in Italy and is by the coast just to the left of the top of the boot shape. It is a port city, the busiest in Italy, with a history of maritime trade over many centuries and has an old town full of beautiful palazzos and narrow streets.

The Via Garibaldi has twelve superb palazzos in one incredible row. It is difficult to show how amazing they were as they are so tall and close together. I was really keen to look inside at least one of them, but it was Monday, the only day of the week that they close.

We continued our wandering and ended up at the seafront and admired the beautiful painted building just above. Maybe there are just too many lovely buildings to appreciate here, but this one was in a bit of a tatty area with cars parked right in front of it. Worst of all though was a busy flyover that stretched out all along the coast spoiling the view and atmosphere of the waterfront.

It was built in the 1960's and was thought a good idea at the time, and it also pedestrianised the area underneath it, but not really in a good way. Back at the hotel I looked at a map because surely it would have been better somewhere else, but with the mountains behind the city and sea in front I couldn't see where else to put it either.

In 1451 Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, and huge crowds of people go to look at the front of his tiny house. We did too but without a guide so I don't know what they say. However, this wasn't really his house, but is an 18th century recreation, and I don't think that anyone knows where in the city was his actual birthplace. Interesting though. 

Then lots more amazing sights and a nice pasta and wine dinner later.